Glossary- P Flashcards
packet switched
A WAN technology where communications between endpoints takes place over a stream of packets that are routed through switches until they reach their destination.
parallel test
An actual test of disaster recovery (DR) and/or business continuity re- sponse plans. The purpose of a parallel test is to evaluate the ability of personnel to follow directives in emergency response plans—to actually set up the DR business pro- cessing or data processing capability. In a parallel test, personnel operate recovery sys- tems in parallel with production systems to compare the results between the two in order to determine the actual capabilities of recovery systems.
password
An identifier that is created by a system manager or a user; a secret combina- tion of letters, numbers, and other symbols that is known only to the user who uses it.
password complexity
The characteristics required of user account passwords. For ex- ample, a password may not contain dictionary words and must contain uppercase let- ters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
password length
The minimum and maximum number of characters permitted for a password that is associated with a computer account.
password reset
The process of changing a user account password and unlocking the user account so that the user’s use of the account may resume.
password reuse
The act of reusing a prior password for a user account. Some infor- mation systems can prevent the use of prior passwords in case any were compromised with or without the user’s knowledge.
password vaulting
The process of storing a password in a secure location for later use.
patch management
The process of identifying, analyzing, and applying patches (in-
cluding security patches) to systems.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
A security standard whose objective is the protection of credit card numbers in storage, while processed, and while transmitted. The standard was developed by the Payment Card Industry, a consortium of credit card companies, including VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.
performance evaluation
A process where an employer evaluates the performance of each employee for the purpose of promotion, salary increase, bonus, or retention.
personal area network (PAN)
A network that is generally used by a single individual and is usually limited to about three meters in size.
personal digital assistant (PDA)
A mobile device that is similar to a smart phone in size and features, but which lacks the mobile phone component.
phishing
A social engineering attack on unsuspecting individuals where e-mail mes- sages that resemble official communications entice victims to visit imposter websites that contain malware or request credentials to sensitive or valuable assets.
physical
Layer 1 of the OSI network model. See also OSI network model.
physical control
Controls that employ physical means.
physical network architecture
The part of network architecture concerned with the physical locations of network equipment and network media.
piggybacking
See tailgating.
plain old telephone service (POTS)
Another name for the public-switched tele- phone network (PSTN). See also public-switched telephone network (PSTN).
plaintext
An original message, file, or stream of data that can be read by anyone who
has access to it.
point-to-point protocol (PPP)
A network protocol used to transport TCP/IP packets over point-to-point serial connections (usually RS-232 and dial-up connections).
policy
A statement that specifies what must be done (or not done) in an organiza- tion. A policy usually defines who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing it.
polymorphism
The different ways in which an object may behave, depending upon the data that is passed to it. See also object.
population
A complete set of entities, transactions, or events that are the subject of an audit.
Post Office Protocol (POP)
A TCP/IP application layer protocol that is used to re- trieve e-mail messages from an e-mail server.
power distribution unit (PDU)
A device that distributes electric power to a com- puter room or data center.
pre-action
A fire sprinkler system used in areas with high-value contents such as data centers. A pre-action system is essentially a dry pipe system until a “preceding” event such as a smoke detector alarm occurs; at this time, the system is filled with water and essentially converts in real time to a wet pipe system. Then, if the ambient temperature at any of the sprinkler heads is high enough, those fuses break, releasing water to extin- guish the fire. See also fire sprinkler system.
